Balboa boosters reveal plans; clarify that city's in charge

BALBOA PARK  A “Spring Back to 1915” weekend festival next spring will be among the events staged in Balboa Park to mark the 100th anniversary of the Panama-California Exhibition, a group of park boosters announced Wednesday.

The festival, which is slated to include ragtime music and docents dressed in period costumes, is the first specific event proposed for the centennial celebration since the group that began planning it three years ago disbanded this winter amid controversy.

City officials took over planning of the celebration at that time, a point that park boosters stressed Wednesday morning at a press conference next to the 1,200-acre park’s famous reflecting pool.

The Balboa Park Conservancy won’t be planning events because its mission is beautifying the park, including a new initiative to raise $3 million for renovations of the Botanical Building, conservancy president Carol Chang said.

The disbanding of Balboa Park Centennial Inc., which was criticized for spending $2.6 million in city money without making any concrete event plans, created confusion and prompted some to erroneously conclude that the conservancy would take over planning, Chang said.

Two other groups of park boosters — the Balboa Park Committee of 100 and Save Our Heritage — also sought to drive the point home Wednesday that the city’s Office of Special Events will have the “sole responsibility” for scheduling, planning and controlling park venues during the centennial.

Working with guidance from the city, the two groups have agreed to help plan “Spring Back to 1915.”

They said Wednesday it may include vintage cars, a large community picnic, free tours of the Marston House and short performances of period pieces by the Old Globe Theatre, the San Diego Opera and San Diego Symphony. Dates haven’t been chosen, they said.

The groups also said they won’t play a leading role in a separate celebration the city hopes to stage in fall 2015, suggesting that other volunteers will need to come forward.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer said Wednesday that city officials welcome any ideas as they continue to plan a series of “community-focused” events to celebrate the park and the centennial.

“I look forward to working with all organizations and individuals who have the time, talent and treasury to manage activities and projects in the park,” he said.